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The high price of kosher food takes a bite out of these NYC teens’ budgets
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
(JTA) — On a recent Tuesday before his basketball team’s evening practice, sophomore Gabe R. and several of his friends headed to Grill Point NYC, a kosher Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Looking at the menu, Gabe was stunned by the prices: $26.50 for a bowl of schnitzel over rice, quinoa or salad. With no other kosher options open in the neighborhood, Gabe passed on dinner, practicing his ball-handling and shooting and ignoring his growling stomach.
Usually, though, he tries to find something he can afford. “I don’t like missing out. When all my friends go out for lunch, I don’t want to be the only one absent,” said Gabe. “I just look for less expensive items.” Most frequently this means ordering “a drink, dessert, or a side of fries,” said Gabe, who asked that his full name not to be used for fear of bullying over his financial situation at his Jewish high school.
Kosher food is hardly immune from the trend of rising inflation. In March 2022, inflation in the U.S. hit a 40-year high at an annual rate of 8.5%. Since then, the Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising interest rates to lower inflation, which, in January 2023, was 6.4% higher than January 2022. Although many Americans are struggling with food inflation, observant Jews bear an additional burden, as kosher meat already costs approximately 20% more than non-kosher meat, according to Slate Magazine.
Faced with high prices, many Jewish teens who keep kosher are limiting the frequency in which they patronize kosher restaurants. Some teens, primarily those who regard eating out as a key aspect of their social lives, have committed to ordering cheaper menu items when meeting friends. Others have eliminated eating out entirely. Such sacrifices have tangible effects on the relationship of kosher teens to Judaism. In addition to the crimp on their social lives, some teens say it is affecting their relationship with Judaism.
Yonatan Benichou, a junior at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, said that he has recently stopped going out to eat at kosher restaurants with friends. “As a student with no income, I have no control over how much money I can spend. Kosher restaurants are very expensive,” he said.
Being kosher during a period of high inflation impacts Benichou’s social life. “Some of my non-kosher friends can eat a Big Mac [Combo] Meal at McDonalds” or a burger, fries and a drink for about $12 in New York City. “There is no such option for me. It’s frustrating,” said Benichou. At Burgers and Grill, a popular kosher eatery on the Upper West Side, a similar combination meal starts at $18.
This new reality has altered Benichou’s relationship to Judaism. “I didn’t choose my denomination. The truth is that I can’t get a cheaper lunch with my [non-kosher] friends because of some random laws in the Torah,” he said. “This makes me more resentful of Orthodox Judaism.” Primarily, the prohibitive cost of a kosher restaurant meal has led Benichou to question the validity of mitzvot for which the Torah does not give a specific reason, called “chukim.” Traditional sources include the rules of kosher food among these “non-rational” regulations.
There are few cheap, kosher fast-food options, in large part because of the wholesale price of kosher food. While a pound of chicken drumsticks at Park East Kosher Butcher in NYC costs $9.98 — $9.30 a year ago — a pound of non-kosher Springer Mountain Farms Chicken Drumsticks, sold on FreshDirect, is $2.79. The kosher fast food restaurant Holy Schnitzel offers a regular chicken sandwich, coined the “Holy Toasty,” for $15.99 at its Upper West Side location. Chick-fil-A’s classic chicken sandwich is $6.29 at their Upper East Side location.
But the higher cost of kosher meat is not the sole reason for the lack of kosher fast food restaurants, said Dani Klein, founder of YeahThatsKosher, a guide to kosher restaurants and travel. Since fast food restaurants need to sell a high volume to turn a profit, the pandemic — which “killed the volume game,” according to Klein — meant that kosher restaurants could succeed only if they had high profit margins. “Every restaurant will choose the best way to maximize its profits,” said Klein. “Fancy restaurants can charge a lot more than the cost of their products by virtue of the fact that they are offering an upscale experience.”
Hunter Bernhardt, also a junior at the Heschel High School, said that he rarely goes out to eat with his friends due to inflation. Living in Riverdale in the Bronx, getting to school in Manhattan is often costly. “Everything, from gas prices to Uber fares, have increased with inflation. I can’t spend too much on expensive food when transportation is my priority,” Bernhardt said.
Although inflation has altered his spending, Bernhardt said that his relationship to Judaism has not been affected. “I am grateful to live in a place and attend a Jewish day school where kosher foods are accessible to me.” Indeed, students at the Heschel School, which gave three times more financial aid in the 2022-23 school year than a decade prior, have access to kosher breakfast and lunch every school day for no additional fee on top of tuition. Bernhardt also said that going out to eat isn’t that important to his social life. “Many of my friends aren’t kosher anyways. We do other things, like play basketball in Central Park and chill at a friend’s house.”
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Israel Urges Lebanon to Disarm Hezbollah Under Ceasefire Terms
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl. In Jerusalem on 16 October 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Hezbollah was seeking to rearm and that Israel would exercise its right to self-defense under last year’s ceasefire accord if Lebanon failed to disarm the terrorist group.
At the start of a cabinet meeting Netanyahu said Israel would “act as necessary,” if Lebanon does not take steps to prevent its territory from becoming a renewed front.
The US brokered a truce in November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel after more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza, but Israeli strikes across the border have continued sporadically.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that it had killed four Hezbollah members.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said the Lebanese government must fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove the group from southern Lebanon.
Katz said maximum enforcement efforts would continue and intensify to protect Israeli residents in the north.
Under the ceasefire accord, Lebanon agreed that only state security forces should bear arms, which means Hezbollah must be fully disarmed.
Lebanese army sources told Reuters they had blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that they had run out of explosives and they expect to complete their sweep of the country’s south by the end of the year.
Once the dominant political party in Lebanon, Hezbollah was severely weakened by the war with Israel, which killed thousands of fighters and longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah has publicly committed to the ceasefire and has not opposed the seizures of unmanned weapons caches in the south. It has not fired on Israel since the November truce.
However, it insists the disarmament, as mentioned in the text, only applies to the south of Lebanon and has hinted conflict is possible if the state moves against the group.
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Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities ‘Wiped Out,’ Says Former Mossad Chief
The Mossad recruitment ad. Photo: Screenshot.
i24 News – Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program had been “wiped out,” describing it as a turning point in Israel’s security posture and regional diplomacy.
Cohen claimed that Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities had been eliminated following joint Israeli-American strikes earlier this year.
“Iran is in a very different position,” he said. “They can no longer enrich uranium at present.” He echoed former US President Donald Trump’s earlier remarks that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “wiped out” during the operation.
Calling the strikes a “great success,” Cohen said the mission sent two messages to Tehran: that Israel could carry out such large-scale operations in coordination with the United States, and that it was prepared to strike again if Iran sought to resume uranium enrichment.
“We destroyed their air defenses, their Revolutionary Guard bases, and hunted them down even into their bedrooms in Tehran and other cities,” Cohen said, describing the extent of the offensive.
Turning to regional diplomacy, Cohen credited the Trump administration for its role in both the strikes and broader mediation efforts in the Middle East. He said the recent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza could open the door to a “reconstruction of relations” across the region and renewed peace talks inspired by the Abraham Accords.
Cohen also mentioned Saudi Arabia’s growing engagement, noting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to visit Washington soon for discussions with US officials. “Not only is this visit important for him, but also for us in the region,” he said.
He added that other Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, had shown interest in potential peace initiatives. “We should expect to see more peace treaties in the near future,” Cohen said. “I believe we will witness a better Middle East.”
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Hamas Hands Over Three More Hostage Bodies
A Palestinian woman walks through the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, November 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Hamas handed over bodies of three hostages on Sunday, even as the Palestinian terrorist group traded blame with Israel for violations of the tenuous truce that has mostly halted two years of war.
Israeli forces in Gaza received coffins carrying the bodies of three hostages, conveyed through the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. The remains will be transported to Israel for identification.
The bodies are expected to be those of three of the 11 hostages whose remains Israel is seeking from Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire. Israel has said Hamas has been too slow in delivering them; Hamas says it is working as quickly as possible under difficult conditions.
The issue has been just one of the disputes holding up full implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire in place since October 10.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed one man in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a militant who was posing a threat to its forces. Al-Ahli Hospital said one man was killed in the airstrike near a vegetable market in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.
“There are still Hamas pockets in the areas under our control in Gaza, and we are systematically eliminating them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Hamas released what it described as a list of violations of the ceasefire by Israel. Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied that Hamas fighters had violated the truce by attacking Israeli soldiers.
VIOLENCE NOT COMPLETELY HALTED
The ceasefire has calmed most fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.
Hamas released all 20 living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held by Israel.
Hamas also agreed under the ceasefire to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war. Before Sunday it had turned over 17.
Meanwhile, violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 236 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce, nearly half of them in a single day last week when Israel retaliated for an attack on its troops. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and it has targeted scores of fighters.
The ceasefire was mediated by the United States, and both sides have appealed to Washington to halt violations.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, met on Saturday with Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir during a visit to the region to discuss Gaza, the Israeli military said.
Netanyahu said any Israeli action in Gaza is reported to Washington. Hamas said the United States was not doing enough to ensure Israel abides by the ceasefire agreement.
About 200 US troops have set up base in southern Israel to monitor the ceasefire and help make plans for an international force to stabilize the enclave, as foreseen in later phases of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.
There has been little sign of progress on the next stages so far, and major obstacles still lie ahead, including the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.